I think vinyl dye cans are similar in size to paint cans. I was able to coat an entire SE, the bottom metal panel, and the ball top and still had left over after multiple coats of paint. It would be possible that you won’t use the whole can since you shouldn’t have to do coat after coat of dye. I’d order the Brillo stuff, seems according to that site, the Brillo is better than Magix. If you want multiple colors, you may want to double check your design if you really need a bunch of different colors, and then limit it to 2 or so. Since you’re dying your buttons, are they high quality real arcade buttons, or knock offs? If they’re knock offs, you may want to just buy better buttons in the color you want, and then you don’t have to worry about buying a can of dye just for multiple button colors.
Thanks dude. I’m not definitely dyeing the buttons, but I’m just trying to assess my options and design some art that will go with whatever those options are. I’m up for dyeing the TE itself, the wings, the buttons, whatever in any combination (probably 2 colours max for money reasons). The buttons I have are sanwa (stock TE). The cans you have what ml are they? I ask cuz on that site they sell all colours (I think) in 150ml and some colours also in 400ml.
Our cans are 12 oz, which is about 350 ml.
Brillo is NOT Vinyldye. I bought it from them in hopes of it, and it scraped off the corners of my stick in no time flat. (And I left it to dry for like…3 weeks)
Man this is why trying to find vinyl dye is such a pain in the ass, a bunch of manufacturers are calling it color when it really is paint. Sneaky usage of words, not exactly specifying it is a true dye.
Also, how on earth does a dye change the luster of a plastic? Shouldn’t it keep the same luster and simply change color?
Most of these vinyl dyes manufactured by Grison and Brillo are usually used for ‘soft’ materials e.g shoes, ladies handbags, dashboards etc. They are not really applicable for hard plastic use (especially something thats gonna get beaten down like an arcade stick). When the manufacturers recommend you purchase their brand of clear lacquer to ‘protect’ the final coat (cough Grison cough) then its probably not suitable for our intended use. If you guys have a Halfrauds store near you you can purchase their vinyl paint that is suitable to use on pvc, upvc (intended to use on plastic car bumpers etc) so you can use it on your TE. Only problem is the colour range is very limited (black, red, blue and grey) and its only collect in store.
I have a question. I apologize in advance if this question has already been addressed in a previous post. I am trying to figure a way to apply textured paint along with a different color. For example if I wanted to use Krylon fusion textured shimmer white sands and combine it with Krylon fusion for plastic plum. Would I apply the texture paint first, desired color second, and then clear coat? I am assuming I don’t want to sand it very much since I don’t want a smooth finish. Is there another novice route to achieve a “sandy” texture. Thanks for any and all feedback.
you have the right order just make sure you regulate your coats try not to cake it on and your clear coats match the type of paint enamel or lacquer. enamel can go over lacquer but not the other way around I actually like enamel clear better its usually stronger try to get a white texture finish better for your plumb if you mess up use some break fluid to remove the paint try to stay away form sanding the plastic
Man i just sanded my T5 using a really fine sandpaper, but with Cooking oil, and it came out like…LOVELY lol Its smooth…SOOOO smooth xD Used it to fix up Rustoloem
really? i have t5 with a few dings and was thinking about fixing it up a little, sand it and paint it. how fine was the sandpaper and what oil did u use? thanks!
cooking oil hmm never tried that the break fluid trick, I read about online for removing paint from plastic without damaging it
Don’t use cooking oil, sheesh. You’ll end up having to degrease the crap out of it to get it all off. Oils will get into little crevices and be damn near impossible to get out.
If you want a good sanding lube, use soapy water. Other people have posted about it here and it works fine.
I’m aching to give this a try on one of my TE sticks, but living in Sweden it seems near impossible to get my hands on some vinyl dye.
Use auto paint instead, and clear coat it with a high quality polyurethane finish. As long as you do it right, it will last a lifetime.
It was Canola Vegetable Oil, worked lovely. It was a T5 that was painted white. I sanded it down and i wanted to get rid of the little white spots. So i gave the stick one coat of black Rustoleon Vinyl paint, let it dry for about a week, then sanded it down with Canola oil.
Hmmm, i just ran soapy water right after i was done sanding it and the oils seemed to have come off, unless its something that will bother me while i play? Havent finished wiring the stick so i havent used it yet.
Well, it could cause problems if all the oil doesn’t come off and you coat it afterwards. Sometimes cooking oil can be stubborn, and depending on the grain of the sand paper may even get stuck in the scratches that your eye can’t pick up. If you coat over it, you’d have oil trapped between the plastic and the coat, and that wouldn’t be good. Soap and water will get a lot of oil off, especially since the whole purpose of soap is to wrap around oils and allow it to wash off, it’s what gives us that “clean” feeling after a shower. I’d just be worried about the stuff you may not see.
Good luck, keep an eye on your paint and make sure you don’t see separation in the future.
Naw i dont plan on coating it any further. It left a very nice soft-smooth-silky texture that im loving at the moment. Otherwise i should be safe? I might give it another wash with warm water and soap to make sure i can get the oils out as best i can.
Im not sure what the grain was, but it had to have been in the 2000-3000 grit area because its extremely fine, i bought it loose from the hardware store and it was unlabeled.
Yeah, if you aren’t coating it then it shouldn’t be a problem. Your handling of it will put oils on to it as well. But if you were to coat it, I wouldn’t recommend it.
By the way, did you ever clear coat your rustoleum?
Nope, what if I did though? I have an se that i planned to oil sand and I used krylon fusion clear coat after using the rustoleom on that stick. Also, I used an old t shirt and buffed the plastic down after I did the oil sand.
Oils can get trapped between coats which will cause coat adhesion problems. That’s why it’s better to soap water sand between coats because it will help trap oils and get them off, and then washing and drying the wet sanded coat before you put the next on. If the coats don’t adhere properly, you could get separation at points and bubbles and stuff like that. Even handling the stick between coats could cause problems from the oil on your fingers if you don’t take care to remove it.